1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a fabric feeding device for a sewing machine, more particularly to a feed dog device which permits a fabric to be fed past the stitch forming area of the sewing machine in a transverse direction perpendicular to a normal feeding direction.
2. Description of the Related Art
It has been known that sewing machines have multiple functions for performing a variety of sewing operations to meet a user's requirement, such as flat stitching, hemming, embroidering, etc. In performing an embroidering operation, a conventional sewing machine is generally provided with a sewing needle which is driven to make a laterally reciprocating movement so as to embroider or stitch patterns onto a garment or fabric. However, the lateral movement of the needle is limited so that the size of patterns to be stitched is relatively small, thereby limiting the choice of patterns.
A bi-directional feed dog mechanism for a sewing machine is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,539,925 and includes a driven rod for producing forward and backward reciprocating movement of a feed dog for moving a fabric past a stitch forming area. The driven rod is connected to a power rod via a slidable clutch member that is coupled with a feed-dog support via a connector and an arm. Rotation of the power rod results in reciprocation of the arm and the feed-dog support in a lateral direction for creating a sideways reciprocation of the feed dog. Such reciprocating motion of the mechanism can not be controlled by actuation of a servo motor, and can not perform a desired sewing operation.
It is desirable to improve a fabric feeding mechanism to permit a fabric to be fed in a transverse direction perpendicular to a normal feeding direction so as to permit the sewing machine to perform a variety of sewing operations.